I’ve tried this tea a couple of times now using different steeping parameters and am totally not getting the experience that Yunnan Sourcing claims. It is quiet, delicate and not at all the intense tea promised. Perhaps I need to load the teapot with a lot more leaf or to steep it for a lot longer, but to me this tastes practically like a green tea. The dry leaf is loose and whole, pale green in colour and smells of freshly mown grass. The liquor when steeped has a lightly floral aroma. There is a little astringency but overall it is a smooth tea with a slightly floral aroma. The astringency does develop on the tongue in the aftertaste though, which is good. I should add that the tea itself despite disappointing my expectations is very pleasant. I could drink a lot of this at one sitting but I am really not sure about the ‘intense cha qi’.
195 °F / 90 °C
0 min, 30 sec
Add more leaves and steep time…
That’s what I was thinking of doing. I have enough of the sample left to load the pot full and steep for longer. I’ll see how that goes.